With a first place cash award of $10,000 for the car with the best install and sound, Pioneer's Sound Build-Off is the car audio equivalent of a real prize fight. And the prizes for second and third weren't too shabby either. Now if it were only open to the public - that may be enough to cause enthusiasts to speed to the nearest Pioneer-carrying shop. It's probably better for everyone else on the road that this contest remain a dealer event.
Thirteen top shops, provided with identical Premier audio systems to install in the vehicle of their choice, built some great all-around vehicles as well as some less elaborate SQ rides. The teams gathered in Tucson, AZ, where they were all judged by Moe Sabourin, Will Adcock and Harry Kimura under IASCA rules.
"I'm extremely proud of our dealers for putting together an amazing array of high-caliber cars in such a short period of time. Each car truly showed the creativity and hard work involved in building them. All of them are worthy of the Pioneer trophy," said Larry Rougas, vice president of marketing and product planning for the mobile entertainment division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.
Audio Video Concepts of Kenner, LA, won for building the best sound quality and installation vehicle. Installer Vinnie Nguyen, who also tuned the system, impressed the veteran judges with the Premier system in the 2007 Jeep Patriot. In addition to the cash prize, he'll be featured in an upcoming issue of Car Audio. In second place was a 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX by Cartronics and shop owner Dan Berry in Santa Rosa, CA; and the 1999 Mercedes CLK 450 by Sound Sensations out of Atlanta, GA, took third place.
Required products for competition:
DEH-P880PRS head unit
PRS-D4100F 4-channel amplifier
Two PRS-D1100M mono amplifiers
TS-C720PRS 6.5" component speakers
Two TS-W3001D4 12" subwoofers
No other manufacturer's audio products could be added to the system.
Install features
First Place: Audio Video Concepts
2008 Jeep Patriot
Custom door panels
Customized tweeter pods
Color-matched amprack and subwoofer enclosure
Second Place: Cartronics
2004 Subaru Impreza WRX
See-through subwoofer enclosure
Customized amprack
Center channel speaker pod
Third Place: Sound Sensations
1999 Mercedes CLK 450
Fan-cooled amplifiers
Blue neon lighting for entire audio system
Kick panel speaker enclosure